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Performing Transylvania: Tourism, fantasy and play in a liminal place

Performing Transylvania: Tourism, fantasy and play in a liminal place In recent years there has been increasing attention on tourism as a form of performance. Moreover, some recent work has focused on the role of tourist performances in the making (and remaking) of tourist places. This article explores these issues with reference to Transylvania, Romania, through ethnographic fieldwork with a group of Western tourists visiting Transylvania for Halloween. It was clear that, for these tourists, their visit to Transylvania was firmly grounded in what they brought with them from their home cultures. In particular, the whole visit was circumscribed by an enduring place-myth of Transylvania as the home of Dracula and vampires. During their holiday, these tourists enthusiastically engaged with this myth through fantasy, imagination-work and embodied play. Thus, these tourists were not simply encountering Transylvania — instead they were performing a Transylvania as they imagined it to be. In doing so, they were actively reconstituting the Transylvania place myth. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Tourist Studies: An International Journal SAGE

Performing Transylvania: Tourism, fantasy and play in a liminal place

Light, Duncan
Tourist Studies: An International Journal , Volume 9 (3): 19 – Dec 1, 2009
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Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2009
ISSN
1468-7976
eISSN
1741-3206
DOI
10.1177/1468797610382707
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

In recent years there has been increasing attention on tourism as a form of performance. Moreover, some recent work has focused on the role of tourist performances in the making (and remaking) of tourist places. This article explores these issues with reference to Transylvania, Romania, through ethnographic fieldwork with a group of Western tourists visiting Transylvania for Halloween. It was clear that, for these tourists, their visit to Transylvania was firmly grounded in what they brought with them from their home cultures. In particular, the whole visit was circumscribed by an enduring place-myth of Transylvania as the home of Dracula and vampires. During their holiday, these tourists enthusiastically engaged with this myth through fantasy, imagination-work and embodied play. Thus, these tourists were not simply encountering Transylvania — instead they were performing a Transylvania as they imagined it to be. In doing so, they were actively reconstituting the Transylvania place myth.

Journal

Tourist Studies: An International Journal – SAGE

Published: Dec 1, 2009

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